Alberta Destinations

Alberta celebrates 75th anniversary of provincial parks

Just about 75 years ago in 1932, Aspen Beach, Gooseberry Lake, Park Lake, Sylvan Lake and Saskatoon Island provincial parks were established as Alberta's first provincial parks. Today, over 27,000 square kilometres of Alberta's great outdoors is preserved for all time in provincial parks and protected areas, ranging from recreation sites to areas of pristine wilderness.

A provincial park or recreation area is within an hour's drive of every Alberta resident. Park visits have an economic impact of $1.2 billion annually.

To celebrate the anniversary, world-renowned Canadian wildlife artist Robert Bateman has created four paintings depicting wildlife in provincial parks.

The paintings feature trumpeter swans at Saskatoon Island Provincial Park; a grizzly bear at Rock Lake-Solomon Creek Wildland Provincial Park; woodland caribou at Chinchaga Wildland Provincial Park and a prairie falcon at Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park. The paintings will be permanently on display at the Royal Alberta Museum.

They were unveiled at a gala to kick off Alberta Parks’ 75th anniversary in 2007 and to launch Bateman's Gettoknow program in Alberta.

Bateman is partnering with the Alberta government and the Alberta Conservation Association who share his passionate belief that real live outdoor experiences are very important for young Albertans.

The Gettoknow Program is designed to help raise a generation that will care for the planet. To achieve this, Bateman believes young Canadians must be taught the ABCs of environmental literacy.

A strong advocate of conservation, sustainability, and biodiversity, Bateman says, “Caring begins with knowing. Introducing students to their ‘wild neighbors’ is an important first step towards helping them understand why biodiversity and wildlife habitat must be protected.”

Each year, over 2,000 Albertans volunteer more than 100,000 hours of their time to provincial parks and protected areas, demonstrating their commitment to preserving and enjoying Alberta's rich natural heritage.

Hundreds of park educational programs have been developed that now reach over 60,000 students annually at 11 sites across the province. These programs provide students opportunity to examine, through hands-on exploration, wetlands, forests, plants and wildlife, that fascinate, intrigue and excite the senses, creativity and caring.

Since 1982, Fish Creek Environmental Learning Centre in Calgary has reached nearly half a million students, 15,000 teachers and 85,000 adults. Meanwhile Kananaskis in the Classroom has reached nearly 100,000 students and teachers in the last five years, and led to the creation and delivery of the Parks in the Classroom series now presented in Edmonton.

For more information about Alberta Parks, call toll_free 1_866_427_3582 or visit www.cd.gov.ab.ca/enjoying_alberta/parks/planning/gateway.